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Twitter videos to become extra long as Vine also drops six-second limit and lets people make huge videos
Nasa has announced that it has found evidence of flowing water on Mars. Scientists have long speculated that Recurring Slope Lineae -- or dark patches -- on Mars were made up of briny water but the new findings prove that those patches are caused by liquid water, which it has established by finding hydrated salts. Several hundred camped outside the London store in Covent Garden. The 6s will have new features like a vastly improved camera and a pressure-sensitive "3D Touch" display
This Transhumanist Records Everything Around Him So His Mind Will Live Forever
In the early 1990s, a Hungarian girl who attended Alexey Turchin's school suddenly died. Turchin, a Muscovite teenager who had a crush on the girl, resolved to bring her back to life. To do this, he decided to interview the girl's classmates and friends in order to collect every bit of information about her. This data, fed into a supercomputer (to be designed, built, and operated by Turchin himself) would then be used to conjure up a digital reproduction of the late girl's self. The plan didn't pan out, partly because there wasn't a supercomputer able to emulate the human brain, and partly because--as Turchin puts it--"that was before social networks and there wasn't much information around about her."
Self-Driving Buses Powered by IBM Watson Now Ferrying People Around in the US
The startup yesterday opened a new facility in National Harbor, Maryland, and along with it, a new range of miniature buses that can autonomously take passengers wherever they ask to go. Local Motors' new buses, which look a bit like ski lifts on wheels, are called Olli, and will be puttering around the greater Washington, D.C., area after their maiden voyage yesterday. The electric vehicles, which have a top speed of about 12 mph and a range of roughly 30 miles per charge, use similar technologies to Google's self-driving cars to see the world as they roll around. But they also use Watson, IBM's suite of artificial intelligence software, to understand what's around them as they move, as well as whatever their human passengers ask of them. Olli has the same speech recognition and language understanding built in that allowed Watson to beat a bunch of smart humans at the quiz show "Jeopardy!"
BMW Seeks Partners in Race to Build Self-Driving Car's Brain
BMW is accelerating plans to acquire technology expertise in a race with the likes of Apple Inc. and Google to make cars smart enough to react like human drivers. The German automaker is pushing to acquire startups, partner with tech companies and hire talent to build an electronic brain for next-generation vehicles, Klaus Froehlich, BMW AG's head of development, said in an interview in Munich. At stake is billions of euros in potential profit as value in the auto industry gradually shifts to autonomous taxis. "There's a power play going on with other companies buying up software competencies at a fast clip," Froehlich said. "We definitely need partners in this area, and we massively need to build out in-house resources too."
Entrepreneur First doesn't find startups, it builds them
In a converted biscuit factory in Bermondsey, South London, 100 would-be entrepreneurs are searching for their perfect match. It's afternoon on the second day of Entrepreneur First (EF), the six-month accelerator programme that takes technically talented strangers and moulds them into co-founders. Yet although the people in the room have left jobs at Google, Credit Suisse and the University of Cambridge to be here, all the skill and will in the world are no substitute for chemistry, and between workshops on creativity and customer acquisition, the would-be entrepreneurs talk intensely and sketch out plans on MacBooks, working out if they are right for each other. "It's X Factor without the tears," says Alice Bentinck, co-founder of EF. EF is the tech accelerator that's also a training school for entrepreneurs.
U.S. Announces New 'Ground Rules' For Use Of Commercial Drones
The Federal Aviation Administration issued the first operational rules to govern the commercial use of drones on Tuesday. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said this was a "huge step for innovation." The 600-plus pages of new regulations require drone operators to pass a written exam every two years, keep the unmanned aircraft within sight and avoid flying it over people and at night. The rules also require drones to stay at least 5 miles from airports. The regulations, however, can be waived if operators show they can mitigate the risks associated with operating at night, flying over people, or operating beyond line of sight, among other things.
Marc Carrel-Billiard Reveals the Latest in AI at Accenture
We began by considering the broad discoveries of Accenture's Technology Vision report. It reveals that '70% of executives are making significantly more investments in artificial intelligence technologies than they did in 2013'. So are there any particular industries that are taking to AI more than others? "At Accenture we see AI being adopted across all industries", Marc says. "Some disciplines are using AI more than others, but we really are seeing it across the board, and I would not say there is one industry specifically that is using AI more than another".
Goldsmiths AI turns Sigur Rรณs single into 24-hour TV soundtrack
The band Sigur Rรณs has produced a 24-hour televised journey around the entire Icelandic coast, set to an evolving version of a single song generated using artificial intelligence developed at Goldsmiths. In 2011 Dr Mick Grierson from the Department of Computing created the commercial music format, BRONZE, which manipulates and transforms every aspect of a track to create a unique version on each listen, while the song remains recognisable to the listener. Music is no longer static, but producers and composers can create subtly different mixes with each play, while still retaining the quality and balance of the original mix. From 20-21 June, the experimental Icelandic post-rock act unveiled their film Route One live on Iceland's National Television โ and streamed globally via YouTube โ with a constantly evolving soundtrack based around elements of their new song รveรฐur. The individual musical elements of the unreleased song, and current Sigur Rรณs festival set opener, were seeded through evolving music program BRONZE to create a unique ephemeral sonic experience.
Universities and startup factories are fuelling a rise in UK startups like Magic Pony, the AI business Twitter bought for 150 million
"Ex Machina" stars Oscar Isaac (left) and Domhnall Gleeson (right). The UK's AI scene is once again the talk of the town following the sale of Magic Pony Technology to Twitter for a reported 150 million ( 102 million). Evi was acquired by Amazon for a reported 18 million in 2013, DeepMind was bought by Google for around 400 million in 2014, VocalIQ was acquired by Apple for an unknown amount in 2015, and SwiftKey was bought by Microsoft for 175 million in 2016. The Oxbridge-London triangle is playing an important role in the creation of the UK's best AI companies, according to LocalGlobe investor Saul Klein. Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial, and UCL all have deep expertise in applied mathematics, computer science, and machine learning.
ICYMI: 3D-printed, autonomous bus starts shuttling people
Today on In Case You Missed It: Local Motors is testing a self-driving, electric mini-bus that lets passengers communicate with the bus about the weather and where they're located as they are shuttled from one part of town to another. The bus was conceived just a few months ago but is already running in Maryland. The company plans to bring more buses to other cities, like Copenhagen and Las Vegas, soon. Meanwhile bone conduction headphones are being reimagined to be more wearable, with both a sunglasses option and helmet version up for grabs online. We also wanted to show you video of the robot badminton player because it's pretty amazing.